Today I will conduct the interviews that I so desperately need to get started on. Lena Zogouleta and her future husband, Thasos, both from the ministry, will come this morning to aid me in pulling together the interviews. From what I have gathered in my inquires up till now many tourists in the area who travel to Ermioni have interest in antiquities and archaeology but there is no means of facilitating such interest. Archaeology in Ermioni specifically has taken place on a contract or rather rescue basis only over the last few decades. Yesterday I came across yet another excavation again along the road into town on the northern edge.

In my interviews I wish to focus on local interests in the past, what they hope to learn from it given that interest and how they see it contributing to their lives.

In the earlier morning I will take a video walk along the path around the Bisti of ancient Hermion. The site has been left overgrown with pine trees in a ruined state. Locals and tourists use the Bisti as an area to exercise, swim, simply stroll, or sit and read on a bench. As a park the area is quite lovely. Excavations were conducted here early in the century, but none have taken place recently.

I find Ermioni’s treatment of the Bisti most appealing for the aesthetic of the ruin is something that is lacking in the contemporary management schemes of archaeological sites.

Lena helped me accomplish five interviews today. We conducted two interviews in Ermioni before we left fro Porto Kheli. After we left Ermioni we drove to Koiladha. We managed to speak with a young café owner who did not wish to be filmed. We then set out for Porto Kheli where we spoke to a tavern owner in town. We attempted to stop by Hotel Rozos but the owner was out. We finally hoped to get an interview with Costas the owner of the Akti where I am staying. He consented to do so around 5:00pm and now I hope to meet with a local journalist for a final interview today.

It seems that there is a great deal of enthusiasm for developing interest in the archaeology of the area. However politics and the local authorities are to blame for the lack of initiative in facilitating such interest. I will try to get an interview with the local cultural authority tomorrow.

I also need to carve out more time for the museum in Naplion. I had planned to go on Friday, but I need at least half a day to access the disparity in the presentation of materials from the southern Argolid compared with the rest. I need to get a sense of the museum space dedicated to the archaeology of the region. I assume that Franchthi will be well represented, but how well compared to other sites and in the context of specific periods…

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